Parents are put in your life for a reason. They have also seen alot more of life than you have because of age an experience. There are many many good reasons why they are protective. I think parents should protect their children because the world is a nasty place. But I do think that parents should give their children a certain amount of freedom to find out things themselves, but not enough to seriously hurt themselves. However, I think that parents should oversee their children and who they should date.